Thursday, May 15, 2008

Spring Ramp Gnocchi

Romance is an experience that is hard to define. If you asked me when I was 16, I would have no doubt said that it involved flowers, fancy dinners and jewelery (preferably platinum.) Much older, I have come to the conclusion that romance is complicated, tied to the moment, and, most importantly, ephemeral.

Spring is particularly romantic. After all, nature is in love at the time: the trees are in bloom, the robins are laying their egg. In Cleveland, after a winter cooped up with a toddler, the arrival of spring was particularly welcome. The spring market offered us so many lovely and welcome additions to our diet--nettles, pea shoots, morels and, of course, the wild spring leeks--ramps.

The Allium family is a sort of aphrodesiac--or more accurately they do promote comraderie and pairing. Only one person in a couple consuming garlic bread results in, well, no kissing. When both consume, anything is possible.When our friend told us that we could forage for ramps on their wooded lot, we jumped at the chance. Like all good romantic experiences, the sweetness and enjoyment of the event snuck up on us.

My husband and I arrived at the lot just before sunset, bag and shovel in hand. The air was moist--it had rained this morning. On the way down to the river, as we passed the newly blooming primroses, we spoke. Nothing special, we just talked. When you spend so much time talking about work, bills, errands, babies, just talking is an incredibly romantic moment.When we returned home with our ramps, the sun was just about gone. For my husband, Italian food is comforting and homey. The culinary prowess of his Nonna lives on-- a full decade after her death. The best of the Italian kitchen profits from the freshness and seasonality of the ingredients. Our ramps were in the ground only 1/2 hour before we cooked them.Homemade gnocchi is one of my husband's favorite meals as it quick, filling, adaptable. Squash gnocchi with sage, potato gnocchi with tomato sauce, beet gnocchi with brown butter, ricotta gnocchi with zucchini blossom...well, you see the kind of wonderful cook that he is. For the ramps, the goal was something that didn't overpower these spring treats. We debated making a potato based gnocchi, as potatoes and ramps are a classic, but we went with ricotta, in order to achieve soft pillowy dumplings. The ramp gnocchi were delicious--light and fluffy. Sauteed ramp bulbs and bacon dressed our ramps.

I love home made gnocchi! I have two questions, where did you get the gnocchi roller? How do you identify wild ramps? The ramps in your picture look a little different than the ones I have seen at the store. Nice pics & story :)

thanks for stopping by everyone. As for the ramps, I knew them because they smell distinctive and because I learned how to recognize them in a 6th grade class. I would suggest you work with someone who knows or get a good book (Dog Hill Kitchen recommends Stalking the Wild Asparagus.) And, Sarah-Heights Eats, I think in our area the ramp party is finito. As for the gnocchi roller, it is available online all over, but we got ours at a store in Eaton--I don't want to give a free advert here. But, I am sure you know the cooking store I mean.